During some orthopedic surgeries a surgeon or other medical practitioner can use a provisional component to test a particular orthopedic-implant geometry. For example, during total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total hip replacement (THR) surgery, a stem is implanted into the femur of the patient and the surgeon or other medical practitioner fits one or more provisional femoral heads to the stem in order to determine geometric parameters that provide an acceptable fit with the patient's anatomy. Each provisional head can provide for a particular leg length, a particular lateral offset between the center of the femoral head and the center of the femur, and a particular version angle. A tray of provisional heads can be provided to the surgeon or other medical practitioner by an orthopedic device company, with each provisional head corresponding to a model of permanent head.
After fitting a provisional head to the stem, the surgeon or other medical practitioner can test the hip geometry of the provisional head and the patient's range of motion to determine if the geometry of the provisional head provides for a desirable fit. If the surgeon or other medical practitioner is unsatisfied with the geometry of the first provisional head, for example, the surgeon or other medical practitioner can select a second provisional head from the tray and fit the second provisional next to the stem and repeat testing the patient's hip geometry and range of motion. This process is repeated until an acceptable fit is achieved.